Ohio mother charged after daughters found alone without coats in 8-degree cold

An Ohio woman was arrested and charged with endangering children after authorities found her 3-year-old and 8-year-old daughters outside in sub-freezing temperatures in Mentor on Thursday, Jan. 29, the Mentor Police Department said. Officers responded to a call about 12:25 a.m. reporting a small child "alone in the parking lot" of the Extended Stay America, the MPD said in a news release.

The 3-year-old was wearing only a sweater in temperatures of 8 degrees with 10 mph winds and was placed in officers' warm patrol vehicle. With help from hotel residents, officers located the family’s room and found the girls’ mother, Laura Beitler, 36, who said she was sleeping and did not know the younger child was gone.

During the conversation she discovered her 8-year-old was also missing; a search involving the Lake County drone team, Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Mentor-on-the-Lake Police Department followed. A resident soon reported finding the 8-year-old outside a nearby Hampton Inn, the news release said; she was wearing a T-shirt and sneakers and was placed in the warm patrol car.

Mentor Fire Department medics transported both children to TriPoint Medical Center for evaluation, and no injuries were reported. The girls’ father took custody when he arrived; he had been "away earlier due to a family emergency," the release said. Beitler was taken into custody and charged with endangering children.

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